CEO Leadership transition

ANNOUNCEMENT
Omar Hoek has been appointed CEO of The Vita Group, effective October 1, 2023. He succeeds Ian Robb, who will step down as planned from the CEO role as part of Vita’s succession strategy.

Having held senior executive positions across the specialty fiber, synthetics and lamination industries for over three decades, Omar Hoek brings a unique blend of cultural leadership, industry expertise and an understanding of market dynamics to the role. His distinctly forward-thinking approach to leadership focused on spearheading innovation, creativity, sustainability, and a customer-centric mindset will underpin Vita’s growth moving forward.

Throughout his tenure as CEO, Ian has been instrumental in profitably scaling the business, forming “One Vita”. In addition to leading the expansion of our production footprint across Europe with the launch of Vita Italy, he successfully steered the business through the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Vita produced vital components for a range of sectors crucial to supporting public health.

Speaking on behalf of The Vita Group, incoming Group CEO Omar Hoek said:

“I am delighted to be joining Vita, an ambitious company characterised by a distinctly entrepreneurial spirit. The outstanding team Ian has assembled here is a testament to his leadership and provides us with the platform to continue our expansion across Europe. Partnering with the team at Strategic Value Partners, I’m confident that we’ll jointly take Vita to the next horizon of growth, building in particular on the strong sustainability credentials of the business. These are exciting times ahead, and I look forward to getting underway later this year.”

Vita’s outgoing CEO, Ian Robb, said:

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at The Vita Group for their commitment, passion, and resilience during my tenure as CEO. We all know what we have achieved in terms of growth, profitability, innovation, sustainability, and safety leadership across the European flexible PU market. Our progress to date has been founded on outstanding people, and I believe that this strong talent base will ensure that the business continues to go from strength to strength. Finally, I would like to thank SVP for providing me with the opportunity to successfully lead a legendary business through this highly volatile and uncertain environment. It has been exciting, adventurous and a great deal of fun.”

John Brantl, Co-Head of the European investment team at Strategic Value Partners, added:

“We’d like to thank Ian for his invaluable contributions over the past four years and wish him well in his endeavours. As well as leading the business through the pandemic, he’s played an integral role in not only scaling the business profitably but also building a values-based culture with sustainability at its heart. Omar’s track record of defining a clear strategic path forward, realising execution plans and empowering highly talented people speaks for themselves, and we’re hugely excited at the prospect of partnering with him and the rest of the team going forward.”

Ian Robb will remain in post until 1st October 2023.